Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing, a biblical faith-filled vision for your life. Here's today's blessing. I bless you today to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and people everywhere. You're made for growth. Aren't designed for stagnation, but for increase.
Young Jesus was sinless, but he grew. Perfection personified increased. If the incarnate Son of God could grow, how much more you? You are on the way. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Alan Wright.
Those are what Paul calls A stronghold. Arguments set up against the knowledge of God. lofty opinions that Raise themselves up inside your soul as if they are in a higher place. than what God really has to say about who you are. That's what stronghold is.
You can be a Christian. And you can love God. and be struggling with strong calls. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.
I am Daniel Brittick. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in our series, Empowered, as presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastorallen.org.
That's pastorallen.org. or call 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Pastor Alan Wright.
And what he's wanting to say is here, please don't make me show you how impressive I can be. Look at verse 2. I beg of you that when I'm present, I mean, I have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some. who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. He's just setting the stage here for the discussion he's getting ready to have.
When he talks about the flesh, When he talks about the flesh, There are really two ways that the New Testament talks about the flesh, and one is just saying in the natural realm versus the spiritual realm. But another way to understand the flesh is that the flesh is the human effort and human will and human power of trying to do. What really is only possible through God. Mm. You have to understand the context when you're talking about the flesh.
And what he's saying here is that don't make me come and show you that I could be impressive. See, there's something about Paul. Remember when he said, I didn't try to convince you through human eloquence. But it wasn't butt calls he couldn't. He was actually one of the smartest guys of his day.
He could probably. out articulate the best philosophers of the day. But that wasn't what he wanted to do mainly.
Sometimes the ministers, you know, You think that every minister is Mr. Rogers.
Sometimes I get a little tired of it. It's like, I'm not Mr. Rogers.
No. Don't make me show you. I read this week about a minister. Who got a call from the IRS? And the IRS said, I'm just calling to verify: did Sam Jones give a million dollars?
And the minister responded, he will. Yeah. We could threaten you. We can be, you know. Look at verse 3.
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
So we're not. Trying to We're in the natural, but we're not trying to accomplish this mission according to natural means. This is the whole problem with self-help books, and I like self-help books. I mean, I think all truth is God's truth, and there's some real truth in a lot of health books. But.
If our worst problems could be solved by trying harder, Getting smarter and being stronger. Then all the hard working Smart, strong people. Would have no problems. And have you noticed they do. The wealthy people that have the resources.
The really smart people. The really strong people. The people that the culture celebrates. It seems that they are just as likely, if not more. to have besetting problems in their lives.
If you could just muster up within yourself and your own flesh the ability to overcome all these problems, then you would just do it. But it doesn't work that way, Paul's saying.
So he says at verse 4: The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. but have divine power. to destroy strongholds. Not fleshly. Mere human In origin.
or strength or technique. but have divine dunamis That's our word for power that I've said this 119 times it appears in the New Testament. More than the word for agape, for God's love. has divined Dunamis to destroy strongholds. The word for destroy is a Well, it means completely demolish.
It is the picture. This is the word that's used in Greek to talk about if a whole structure gets raised to the ground. The house that we raise our kids in. We finally sold it. We loved that house, although it was a beautiful house, a nice house, and the people who bought it.
Decided differently, and they decided that they were going to tear it down and build a beautiful bigger house on it. I'll tell you, have you ever seen a structure come down? For a house, they just bring in a big thing with a big claw and just kind of crunch, crunch, crunch, and just crunch there, it's gone. Or maybe you've seen a wrecking ball, or now they'll use explosives and things to watch. Just they want to get rid of everything that's there.
At a side point, I told my daughter Abby, she was little, I said, Well, Abby, is this going to bother you? you know um now Somebody's built this big, huge, beautiful... Brick house where we used to live. And she said, No, Dad. I said, Why?
She said, Because I'm going to bring my friends by here and say, Look, I grew up right there. Yeah. To demolish it because once it's torn down. No one can live in it. No one can abide in it.
Nothing can exist in it. It's gone. That's the image. He's talking about. And he goes on to describe what he means by a stronghold.
He says at verse 5: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. and take every thought captive to obey Christ. First this word arguments. This is not an argument like two people that are yelling at each other. That's one.
This is argument in the sense of like you think of in a debate. or a lawyer presents an argument. meaning it's a premise followed by a logical next thought and a logical thought and then a conclusion thought. It is connected thought. That's what this word means.
It's logismo in Greek, and it means a fallacious. or deceptive reasoning Pattern. That's what he means about argument. We destroy arguments. and every lofty opinion This is an elevated opinion.
This is something that is an exaggerated evaluation. of what one is or what something is. or has been done.
So it's kind of like conceit or pride. But I want to be clear about this, especially when I'm going to give you an illustration of a stronghold. It doesn't mean that Pride in the sense of you're just all puffed up. and think you're better than everybody. But it means it in the sense of an argument or a way of thinking.
that you're so convinced of That you really think you know it better than God Himself. I mean, it's a kind of hard way to think about it, but I mean, anything that we believe. This contrary to what God says in His word. It's a very prideful thing. That's a very elevated thing in our mind.
Even if it's the thing that we We'd like to... think that it's making us not prideful. But if we, for example, were to have a system of thought by which we demeaned ourselves and hated ourselves. In a weird way, Paul's calling that A lofty opinion. God's opinion is the one that needs to be lofty, not ours.
We'll tear down those lofty ones. Exactly.
So again, keep in mind, as I'm going to give you an illustration of this, a stronghold, a fortified dwelling. on a high place uses protection from the enemy for strategic advantage against an enemy. And what God's plan is. figuratively speaking again, is that he wants to be our stronghold. to give us all the advantage over all the powers of hell.
Psalm 18:2, for example, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock. In whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it. Those who have been redeemed of the Lord have a place of refuge and strength in God. The gospel is the truth.
Of stone upon stone that has been built up into a great and mighty fortress against the accuser, and every accusation of the devil himself will fall impotently to the ground against the stronghold of God's grace. Amen. That's what he wants for us. Paul here is describing the kind of stronghold that has gotten set up that's contrary to God. contrary to the good news of the gospel.
Contrary. to Christ himself. And It is behind these kinds of strongholds where all manner of besetting temptations, depressive tendencies, addictions, and chronic bad habits are hiding in. Francis Frangiopain calls a stronghold a house of thoughts. That's accurate.
One thought built upon another, built upon another, upon another, until it's a whole wall, like a structure. Yeah. These get started, you know. And grow in us, and we often don't know that they are. It's interesting because, and as you're going to see this illustration, I'm going to actually build a picture of a stronghold.
And that's part of the symbol I have for you today is that I'm building it. Because on the one hand, a stronghold is something that you and only you build. It's not something the devil can just come and make you have. Wrong ways of thinking are not something that you can just be forced to have. We chose them.
Even though we didn't really want to choose him. I've told you before the story, the funniest thing ever happened. On the floor of what we call Presbytery, which is in our denomination a Periodic gathering regionally of elders and pastors who are meeting together to cooperate in mission, but we also there we examine new ministers. If you're going to come in our denomination and you're going to be ordained in our denomination, it's a little vigorous examination process. And we first want to know: are you spiritually fit for the ministry?
And tell us the testimony. And you tell your testimony in front of all your peers. That's the first thing before you get examined on Bible knowledge and all this stuff. And uh but the funniest moment ever, this guy named Howard. Embarrass.
Howard, Howard was an intellectual. I loved him. Howard is an intellectual, and he talked like this. which is what makes this story really extra funny. Is that he was very sharp theologically, and he would talk about the principles of Reformed faith, and he would always use this voice, and he'd do his hand like this.
He's given us testimony. And he gets this moment in his tesmoint and he goes, I grew up Jewish. And my mother wanted me to be a doctor. My father wanted me to be a lawyer. But I chose a different path.
I chose to become a drug addict instead. I One time, somebody afterwards was really bothered that I told that story, you know, because of so many, like in a room like this, who deal with addictions. But I hope that you catch it in the right spirit of it because it highlights all the levels of irony. Right? Nobody is five years old and say, what do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a drug addict. That's not what we're saying, right? But on the other side of it It is a choice. You see all the levels of irony. This kind of thing I'm talking about with stronghold.
Nobody wants to sign up to say, I want to have these strongholds. that lead to addiction and depression. Nobody it's like it's it how do they form? We form beliefs. In responses, To stuff that happens.
And as soon as we form a belief. That's not true. then the whole wall can start getting built.
So You know, thankfully, most of the time in a relatively healthy home. When people around us are messing up, you know, we get over it. Like, baby cries in the crib because she's got. a wet diaper and mom comes in there tired and tries to feed her and she's like I'm not hungry. The problem is a wet diaper.
Don't you know that? But you know, baby keeps crying, and mom goes, Okay, it's not, she's not hungry.
Okay, let me check the diaper, diaper.
Okay, she figured it out. That's good.
Sometimes she doesn't figure it out and just tried to feed you and left you in your wet diaper, and you're lying there in the crib, and you're just like. Obviously, she doesn't get it, but in a healthy home, you know, it's like she'll figure it out tomorrow. Moms make mistakes sometimes, or you just kind of move on. Or you're two and a half years old and you spill the milk. And mom You know, she's been, this is the 14th time she's cleaned up after one of her three children that day.
And then you spill the milk and you're two and a half because you're clumsy, you're two and a half. And you spill the milk and mom goes, you know, and gives you one of those looks and you go, oh, mom hates it when I spill the milk. But in a good and healthy home, what happens is that mom has her moment of frustration. And uh the two and a half year old is like, She'll work it out with her therapist. She's going to be fine.
But mom, a little bit later, goes, It's all right, sweetie. Let's clean it up together. These things happen. But what about when it's not so healthy? And mom doesn't just go, yeah.
But she's like You're always making a mess. And it never gets clarified. That actually mom's just tired. Two and a half year olds spill things because they're two and a half. And it never gets clarified.
And what happens to that little internal message that comes into the little two-year-old is. I'm a mess maker. And it seems like that the more I do that, The less They seem to like me. That's really bad. And two-year-olds don't have therapists.
And so A thought, one wrong thought like that. could set the foundation of a bunch of wrong thoughts, couldn't they?
So We make decisions about what we think is reality. Often, in response to wounds, rejection that we've experienced, or life circumstances. And when they run contrary to the actual truth, which is the Word of God. and the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those are what Paul calls A stronghold.
Arguments set up against the knowledge of God. lofty opinions that Raise themselves up inside your soul as if they are at a higher place. then what God really has to say about who you are. That's what a stronghold is. You can be a Christian.
And you can love God. and be struggling with strongholds. We got a letter to our ministry of a radio listener who wrote, When I listen to Pastor Wright preach about blessing and God's love and provision and the stuff you've been preaching on lately, I can't even describe what I feel. It's so awesome. I feel engulfed by love and acceptance, and like I'm really able to believe I'm loved.
I feel such God love like I've never felt before. There are moments I feel so loved by God and so cared for by Him. He feels so close to me, and this is so unusual for me because I struggle. with feeling sure of God's love. I guess I feel like I need so much help.
And it'll take so long. that everyone, including God, will give up on me before I'm whole. I want to be so perfect and I'm devastated every time I fail. There's always seems to be so much interference from the enemy. I get exhausted trying to work through it.
Pastor Alan Wright, our good news message. Power to Destroy Strongholds. It's in today's teaching, the series Empowered, and I encourage you to stay with us. Pastor Alan is back here in the studio to share his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. God's always been there.
In every moment you narrowly escaped from danger. In every moment you were surprised by a blessing. In every moment you just knew the direction to take. God was there. Your life is defined by countless moments of God's grace.
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or come to our website, pastorallen. org. Back here now with Pastor Alan in the studio as we share our parting good news thought for the day: power to destroy strongholds. And we're talking about God's way of thinking. That's where the secret lies.
There is divine power in the gospel to demolish This is interconnected Yeah. Series of deceptive thoughts that get kind of built in our mind if you could imagine stone upon stone or brick upon brick and a wall. And that these strongholds can get built maybe even early in our lives without realizing it. that there can be a a wall that gets built on first a foundational lie And then from there, everything else. is out of kilter as well.
That's why we've got to get at the root of the deception. We've got to get at the root of that. And the gospel has power to do that. The gospel will replace all that is anti-gospel. And when that happens, it's like a whole tower comes tumbling down.
I think of a stronghold as a strategic advantage to an enemy. who gets posted somewhere up high, hiding behind a wall, so that Whoever's behind that wall can fire down upon you, but you're sending your arrows towards it and it bounces off the wall. We want to get rid of that wall so that the enemy of our souls has no strategic advantage over us, but instead the table is turned and we're the ones who have found our stronghold in Christ himself. And we're the ones, therefore, that have the advantage. That's what's at stake here.
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